Serving more dads than ever: South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families highlights accomplishments in 2024 impact report

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Tags: South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families

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The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families has a mission to provide the resources for fathers to become great dads, empowering fathers facing economic, social and personal challenges across all 46 counties of South Carolina. In 2024, the center served more than 3,000 fathers and has had two years of double-digit growth, which it highlights in its recently released 2024 impact report.

The full impact report is available here

Karriem Edwards, president, penned an introduction letter for the report, which is below.

More Dads. More Joy.

We set a goal for 2024 to optimize all resources in order to serve more fathers better, and I am proud to say we accomplished that.

We saved over $100,000 in potential expenses, which we reinvested into enhancing our services. Our staff participated in over 30 training days and enjoyed monthly recognition and team-building activities, including helping on a Habitat for Humanity house and a statewide fun day.

We implemented mental health assessments to identify client needs and introduced a fast-track option for program completion. We hosted fathers at the Charleston Open tennis tournament, provided tickets to Carolina Panthers games, and organized family trips to Carowinds. Our “Heroes for the Holidays” campaign included “ThanksDaddy” meals and Squishmallow toys for Christmas.

We raised funds and awareness through increased media visibility. Major donors boosted their contributions by 15%, and 16 municipalities, along with the Governor, issued Father’s Day proclamations.

These initiatives enabled us to serve over 3,000 fathers, a 50% increase from last year, largely due to a 400% rise in services for dads in remote counties. In October 2023, we expanded A Father’s Place to Jasper County, which hosted its first graduation within a year. We also improved
our assessment of each father’s needs to provide appropriate services.

This achievement was a team effort. I commend the fathers for their vital role and appreciate the local staff for their support. I’m proud of the Center’s hard work and grateful to our supporters and partners.

Our aim is to serve more fathers in 2025 through new partnerships, curriculum upgrades, and improved training tools. We’re planning eight strategy meetings with partners to empower fathers and are looking to assist organizations serving fathers beyond South Carolina.

While we focus on dads, our work ultimately centers on children and mothers. I remember how my mother struggled to raise five children alone, and that memory motivates me to support more families.

Please keep our dads, staff, supporters, and the families we have yet to reach in your prayers. If you know of a family waiting for a father’s support, please let them know: Hold on! We’re coming.

Happy Fathers’ Day! Every Day

Karriem Edwards
President

The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System.